1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a medical bed for examining patients. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a medical bed for examining patients in the lithotomy position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Medical beds for placing patients into the lithotomy position are well known in the art. The lithotomy position, as understood by one having ordinary skill in the art, is when the patient assumes the supine position (i.e., with the patient laying on his/her back) and the patient's hips and knees are flexed with the legs spread apart and raised and the feet resting in straps, or stirrups. This is also referred to as the dorsosacral position, and this position is commonly used during childbirth or gynecological exams.
Numerous medical beds for placing the patient in the lithotomy position have been used over time. Some of the earlier medical beds were not more than essentially a padded bed and a pair of leg stirrups.
Over time, backrests were developed that could be inclined and leg stirrups were also provided that could be adjusted both up-and-down and side-to-side, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,318,596 to Herzog.
Later designs were intended to allow the medical caregiver to get closer to the patient without having to reposition the patient. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,536,734 to Heimbrock discloses a lithotomy medical bed having a backrest section, a footrest section, and a medial section for supporting the patient's posterior. The bed also includes foot stirrups which can be adjusted up-and-down. The backrest section can be inclined from a horizontal position, and the medial section can also be inclined from a horizontal position to support the patient. As disclosed in Heimbrock, a typical lithotomy medical bed has a removable footrest section to provide access to the patient's pelvic area for caregivers like doctors and nurses. Removal of the footrest section also allows the stirrups to be positioned below the plane of the bed to allow the patient to sit upright. Another example of this type of medical bed is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,464,421 to Goodwin et al.
Thus, Heimbrock provides the caregiver with access to the patient's pelvic section by removing the foot section of the bed, and does not require the patient to be repositioned on the bed. However, there still remains room for improvement.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0127421 to Hornbach et al. discloses a lithotomy bed having an inclinable backrest section and a declinable footrest section. The backrest section, footrest section, and the section for supporting the patient's posterior are all slidable (or translatable), allowing the patient to be moved closer to the caregiver atop the frame of the bed. However, the footrest section must be moved forward toward the caregiver before it can be pivoted downward. Thus, the medical bed must first be positioned with the footrest section down before the caregiver can move into position near the patient's pelvic area.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a lithotomy medical bed which allows the caregiver to position him or herself at the footrest-end of the bed before, or while, the patient is translated toward the end of medical bed.
The present invention, as detailed hereinbelow, seeks to fill this need by providing a medical bed for positioning the patient in the lithotomy position having a mattress pad including a partitioned footrest section which cascades over and down the end of the medical bed as the mattress pad is translated toward the end thereof.